


Six degrees of seperation

by AudioMeter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 08:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20386576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudioMeter/pseuds/AudioMeter
Summary: Based on the song: The Script - Six Degrees Of SeperationSet after Joaquin needed to leave town and how he dealt with his heartbreak.





	Six degrees of seperation

**First degree: the worst is a broken heart **

“Goddammit, I’m so stupid”, he sighed as he took a seat on the bus that drives to San Junipero. 

He didn’t look back at the boy he is madly in love with. How could he? After everything he did to him? He couldn’t deal to look at him anyway, knowing it will be the last time he will ever see Kevin, the only person who didn’t judge him for who he was. Joaquin knew Kevin really loved him. Now? He wasn’t sure anymore.

The bus drives away. Away from all this bullshit that this town brought him. Bullshit and especially death. He was so stupid to say yes to the job FP had for him, but how could he know? He never thought there would be a murder at Riverdale, let alone that he needed to dump a dead body in a river. If he knew, he wouldn’t even answered FP’s call. And now this stupid body is the cause of this breakup. He can’t stop thinking about the look in Kevin’s eyes. He was so disappointing in Joaquin. And to think that he ever was proud of him.

Kevin was a fool to ever think highly of him. He was in a gang for god’s sake! Why didn’t he walk away when he showed his snake tattoo to him? But no, he stayed and fell for the criminal! But that doesn’t mean that he didn’t get feelings for his preppy now ex-boyfriend. Would Kevin take him back? Will he ever forgive him for the stupid mistake he made? His heart ached to just think about all of this. He hated himself so much now. He broke Kevin’s pure heart and he doesn’t think he could ever forgive himself for that.

“Why do I ruin everything that’s good in my life?” He couldn’t help it but there was a small tear rolling down his cheek. He never had a broken heart before, but it was way worse than he ever imagined it would be. He hated it! He hated himself! He is going to miss Kevin, but he will get over him. He needs to get over him, eventually.

Sadly enough, a bus ride of 4 hours is a long time to think about a breakup.

**Second degree: the part what’s gonna kill you **

A week in this dirty motel room and he still couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful boy, who he loved more than anything in this damn world. He was the first thought Joaquin had when he woke up, the last thought he had when he went to sleep and in the middle of the day, this boy also never leaves his mind.

Always scrolling down his Instagram page to see if he updated it, but by Kevin’s lack of absence, Joaquin knew that he was heartbroken himself.

He needed to get this boy with his preppy clothes and his always neatly styled hair out of his mind. Joaquin tried some methods, like reading some books, watching some shows, meditate, even get hypnotized to get him out of his mind and some did help, but he always came back in his thoughts.

Joaquin tried some more heavy methods he found online on the internet like tarot cards and gems and stones. ‘Maybe, this shit will heal your soul’, he thought, but that wasn’t true at all. It only was a waste of money.

The only thing that really helped was talking to strangers leaving the part of the dead body out of the story, even though he felt weird doing that, so he stopped eventually, having no real method to save his broken heart.

He did all these things out of desperation. He went through the six degrees of separation.

**Third degree: your world splits down the middle **

All the methods he tried weren’t enough to let him stop thinking about Kevin. He was so tired of all the sleepless nights and the crying over someone who he probably won’t even see again. The only thing he wanted at this moment, was to get a good night rest and have one day were Kevin didn’t come in his mind, but that was impossible at this point. Weeks had passed and he was the only thing Joaquin could think off. He knew he needed time to forget about him, but being all alone without his friends in a strange town didn’t help at all.

He needed to do something to get him off his mind, but he didn’t know what, until he went to the supermarket. Instead of going back to his motel room with nutritious food, he came back with a bottle of liquor. Joaquin knew this wasn’t the solution, but he saw that FP used this method to forget about his runaway wife, Gladys, who also took his daughter. It worked with FP, so he supposed it would work with him as well. The only minor thing was that FP became an alcoholic, but Joaquin was alone here and wasn’t a serpent leader, so what does it matter anyway? He won’t see any of his old friends ever again. And if he returned to Riverdale, he probably ends up in jail anyway, so he could better forget his problems by drinking them away.

And that’s how he started to forget about Kevin: by drinking.

It became a routine of him: chugging a whole bottle by himself until he couldn’t think straight anymore and having a hangover the next day which was so huge that he only came out of his bed around 4 PM. One day he was tired of drinking alone, so he went to a bar in the neighborhood.

‘Rough day?’ the stranger behind the bar said.

‘More like a rough couple of weeks.’ Joaquin answered kind of groggy, while making circles on the edge of his glass. He didn’t even looked up at the stranger. What’s the point anyway?

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Don’t you have a job to do?’ Not meaning to sound so bitter, but he couldn’t help himself. Joaquin hadn’t had the best life recently, so he couldn’t blame himself that much.

‘If you didn’t look at your glass all night, you would have noticed that you’re my last customer’, the mystery man chuckled a bit by his own response.

Joaquin quickly looked around and saw that he was right. Afterwards, he looked the man behind the counter right in his eyes for the first time.

He was quite handsome with his blonde, wild locks and his muscular arms which were more revealing by the tight shirt he was wearing. He looked way older than Joaquin, like 26, but that didn’t bother him at all. Also, lucky for him, his eyes were blue. He didn’t look like Kevin at all.

‘Oh shit, I’m so sorry. I will drink this and leave right away. I didn’t notice it was so late already’, Joaquin said in a hurry taking his drink to chug it down but got stopped by a hand on his wrist.

‘Don’t. Let’s just chat and you can take your last drink slowly. Maybe, if we hit it off, we could continue this conversation further at my apartment. I live upstairs by the way. Couldn’t keep work and my private life separate.’ He laughed again and it was the most beautiful thing Joaquin saw in the last couple of months.

‘I’m Joaquin. Can I know yours?’

‘I’m Lucas. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

It was the first time Joaquin really saw a way out of this shit hole.

**Fourth degree: you think that you fixed yourself **

Months has passed by after the two boys first met. Joaquin felt for him, not as quickly as for Kevin, but he did anyway. Lucas has helped Joaquin out of his depression and helped him to get a job at a small supermarket a few blocks further. He also moved in the next day with him after he told Lucas he had lived in a motel for a few weeks, maybe even months. Who keeps track anyway? Lucas insisted on him living with him; he needed a roommate anyway so it would be a win-win. Joaquin’s drinking stopped immediately. He couldn’t live with someone who literally saved his life and then be a dumbass who drinks his problems away. He met some of Lucas’ friends. He didn’t feel so lonely anymore and he got to laugh more.

It was the first time that Joaquin could see a future and a really good one. No gangs, no drugs, no fights, no secrets, no murder and definitely no disappointments anymore.

‘What are we going to do on our free day, huh?’ Joaquin said with a grin while putting his arms behind Lucas’ neck, pulling him closer to kiss him tightly on the lips.

‘Hmmmm, I know exactly what we are going to do’, the same smirk was found on his face, while returning the kiss. Their little make-out session was interrupted by Joaquin’s ringtone.

‘It can wait’, returning back to his session with Lucas.

The caller didn’t give up. He called again.

‘Come on! Why now?’

‘Just pick up babe. The mood won’t be ruined, I promised’, he winked at Joaquin while picking up his phone to give to him.

‘It’s a guy I assume named FP. You never mentioned him, do I need to be worried?’

Joaquin’s heart dropped by hearing his name. He hasn’t heard from him in months, why now?

**Fifth degree: you see them out with someone else**

After the call from FP, Joaquin was already a week back in Riverdale. He needed to save Fangs to bring him to San Junipero, but they both didn’t make it. Fangs gotten still thrown in jail, but Joaquin stayed anyway. He travelled a long way and he really wanted to see the rest of the gang again. They were all in the Whyte Wyrm drinking a cheap beer and this was the first time the four of them could sit together after all the drama and just talk about everything and nothing.

'We’re so happy that you are back, Joaquin. It wasn’t the same without you and you missed a lot of drama', Fangs said.

'Yeah, that’s something I didn’t miss. This town is full of shit, but I’m glad that you’re ok. And it’s good to see all your faces again. Even you, Sweet Pea', Joaquin replied with a smirk.

'You’re still the same asshole as you were in the beginning, but I missed you, man', Sweet Pea said while laughing at Joaquin’s comment. 

'Are you staying for good this time? Or are you going back to your old place?' Toni asked, slightly worried that he will be leaving again.

‘I don’t know yet. I thought that the murder on Jason was the worst thing that could happen in this town, but I was wrong. I don’t want to get involved in that shit again. And besides, I’m not even sure if they are still looking for me or not. The only reason I came back to this town, was to make sure Fangs was safe and he is, so I don’t see the point of staying here after all. You know, I was getting used to live on my own without being a criminal, but I’ll probably just stay a little longer to hang out with you guys. I could never replace you.’

‘Do you think you’re going to visit, you know who?’

He knew everyone avoided that topic, but Fangs had the balls to actually mention it to him. To be honest, Kevin was the first thought he had when he saw FP’s name on his screen. He dreaded his comeback, because he couldn’t bare the thought of seeing him again. Kevin probably had already moved on and he had a good boy back there in San Junipero. Why ruin something good?

‘I don’t think so. I mean he’s probably happier without me. I made his life a living hell.’

But that was all a lie. He found himself a few times a day looking through his contacts searching for Kevin’s name, almost dialing him.

He also found himself at his door, just like all those times before. He wasn’t sure how he got there, but all roads lead him there. It was like he was attracted to this place. Imaging him being home all by himself, letting him in and just looking at each other. That everything felt better, but Joaquin knew better. He drove away every time.

Until one day, everything went wrong. Joaquin got of his motorbike after he arrived at Pop’s. The gang was hungry and decided it was time for him to get the order (they just wanted him out of his small trailer where he spent weeks in). He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the only thing he dreaded to see: Kevin being lovey dovey with his new lover, Moose.

It felt like his healing heart was broken all over again. He couldn’t move nor breath. He didn’t know what to do, until Kevin stared at him with the same expression Joaquin had. Panic rushed through his veins. Quickly, Joaquin turned around and got back on his motorbike, ready to flee back to his trailer. He heard some shouting behind him, which he supposed was from Kevin.

This was not what he expected...

**Sixth degree: you admit that you may have fucked up a little **

'What happened?' Fangs questioned worriedly, because Joaquin stormed into his own trailer, looking furious.

'I’m out of here! I’m not staying any longer! I can’t!' Joaquin shouted back while grabbing his old bagback to throw a few clothes into. 

'Why? You just got here. They let you stay. You can’t leave.' The other boy replied with sadness in his voice.

'Do you want to know why?! Huh! I lied to you all saying that I was over Kevin. Well surprise, I am not! He was having dinner with Moose. With Moose for god’s sake! Of all the guys in this planet, he’s dating Moose after I left him!'

He dropped his bag and sat down on his bed, face covered with his hands supporting on his knees. Fangs sat next to him and placed his hand on his back for support.

'Come on, man. I know you’re heartbroken, but you will get through this. You’ve done it before.'

'You don’t get it, do you? I was heartbroken for 3 months! 3 months! It took me another boy to replace him. Otherwise it would’ve killed me! Don’t you understand? I thought I was over him, but seeing him with Moose, laughing and having fun, it breaks my heart. It should’ve been me who sat across Kevin, making him happy, but no, I brought him together with someone who was afraid to kiss him, but now that his girlfriend is fucking dead, everything is solved! What the hell, Fangs, what is he? His fucking rebound? And I hate myself for letting Kevin feel that he didn’t have options anymore.'

'Joaquin, I…, Fangs got quickly interrupted by the rest of his rant.

And the worst part is, I should hate Kevin for what he has done to the Serpents, to you, my family, but I don’t. I still love him more than I ever will love myself. And that’s why I hate myself even more. So, Fangs, you really do not understand.'

'I’m not stopping you, but please consider staying. We all want you here. Me, Sweet Pea, Toni, Jughead, we are your family. We all love you.'

'Yeah, I know. I love you, guys, too. But all the other people in this town probably prefer me seeing dead, just like Cheryl. She probably hates me for what I did to her brother and I understand, but I don’t want to stand in the way of Cheryl’s and Toni’s happiness. And it’s better to leave before Kevin and I meet up, makes it less complicated, so tell the others I left again. Say that I will miss them', He said when giving a weak smile to Fangs, while he grabbed his bag and threw it around his shoulder.

Fangs didn’t say anything anymore. He knew his friend needed time alone to get this in order, but he would lie if he say that he wouldn’t miss him a lot.

As Joaquin opened the door, he didn’t expect for Kevin to stand at the other side with the same confused and heartbroken look on his face.

Kevin quietly said: ‘Can I come in? We should talk.’

Maybe, going through the six degrees of separation weren’t so bad after all?


End file.
